Proposal Name: ‘I don’t hate apes, I just want them to fund public goods!”
Category: Ecosystem Fund Allocation
Abstract:
This AIP provides for $1,000,000 to fund crypto public goods through ETH Global and ApeCoin hackathons. The goal of this proposal is to 1) give back to the Ethereum community; 2) further development work around account abstraction; and 2) introduce developers to ApeCoin
Author Description
I was previously an ApeCoin special council member, serving from March 2022 to December 2022. I previously authored AIP-96, which provided public goods funding for ETHSF and a Gitcoin grants program. You can find me on Twitter @maariabajwa or on the DAO forum @maariab.
Team Description
I will coordinate between ETHGlobal and the Foundation. Judges for each hackathon will be selected from the community, and will primarily rely on more technical persons who can provide support to hackathon participants. Judges for IRL events will be selected from the local communities. For ETHGlobal IRL events, I’d like to request that at least 1 member from the current Special Council be present for each event.
Motivation:
ApeCoin would not be possible without Ethereum. As a public good, Ethereum benefits from shared responsibility and collective appreciation, and the ApeCoin community should make a concerted effort to directly support this ecosystem.
ETHGlobal has been a community staple since 2017 and has introduced THOUSANDS of developers to the ecosystem. It is a staple for fostering ongoing interest in the ecosystem, which includes ERC-20s like ApeCoin. ApeCoin’s first ETHGlobal event was at ETHSF in December - over 35 teams built around APE which was great for driving awareness for our community. We should participate in as many of these events as we can in 2023.
This AIP proposes continued participation in ETHGlobal hackathons in 2023, as well as a one-time donation to the ETHGlobal foundation. Many projects have scaled back their participation in public goods initiatives and hackathons in the bear market which creates challenges for organizations like ETHGlobal. A donation to the foundation ensures that these hackathons can continue operating and supporting the Ethereum and ApeCoin ecosystems.
Account abstraction is a very complex upgrade that requires buy-in from both users and block validators, but if it’s adopted it creates a pathway to much better wallet UX AND better security. AA aims to make every wallet a smart contract wallet, so wallets can natively embed security features such as 2FA, multi-sig, seed recovery, etc directly into the user experience.
Rationale:
Participating in hackathons gets ApeCoin more visibility and encourages developers to build for this community. It also serves as a way for ApeCoin to support public goods and other communities.
The goal of this funding is to increase awareness and adoption of ApeCoin. Success will be measured based on the entire ecosystem’s success. Funding these programs is the best thing the DAO can do for the collective good of crypto (which impacts us).
Key Terms:
- EthGlobal: organization that operates global hackathons that support the growth and development of the Ethereum ecosystem.
- Ethereum account abstraction (erc-4337): a proposed Ethereum improvement that aims to simplify the process of creating and managing smart contracts.
Specifications:
ApeCoin DAO will provide $1,000,000 to the following:
- $300,000 donation to ETH Global
- $700,000 to participate in 11 ETHGlobal hackathons in 2023
- 7 IRL events and 4 online events
- $40k Pillar Tier sponsorship + $10k prize pool per event [packages here 3]
- $50k in prize matching with Ethereum Foundation for specific initiatives around NFTs, DAOs, zk scaling, and account abstraction (to further our support of public goods initiatives)
- $50k for operational operational costs related to IRL events including TBD swag bag items, content creation, and travel reimbursements. ETH SF in December was the first hackathon for ApeCoin - pics of the banners and swag bag items we used are below:
- Up to $50k for unexpected operational or prize expenses in 2023. For example, ETHGlobal recently added 1 more IRL event in 2023 with ETHLisbon. This additional buffer will also give us flexibility to participate in more prize matching with the Ethereum Foundation, as those initiatives are formed. This funding will not be called upon or used unless needed, and at the end of the year any unused proceeds will be released back to the DAO.
About ETHGlobal
- Opportunity to introduce ApeCoin to thousands of developers in 2023
- ETHGlobal has organized over 40 hackathons around the world since 2017. Over 14k developers have participated in these hackathons, building over 3.3k projects.
- In 2023, ETHGlobal plans to host 18 events around the world and online. This AIP proposes the DAO participate in 11 events.
- With Pillar Tier sponsorship, ApeCoin will have up to 5 representatives at the IRL events
- Every IRL event will recruit 3-4 people from the local ApeCoin community to attend the event and participate in the hackathon judging
- Judging for online hackathons TBD
Dates [ETHGlobal | Events]
- 3/10: Scaling Ethereum [Online]
- 4/14: Tokyo [IRL]
- 5/12: Lisbon [IRL]
- 6/23: Waterloo [IRL]
- 7/21: Paris [IRL]
- 9/22: New York [IRL]
- 10/6: ETHOnline [Online]
- Q4 Devcon [IRL]
- TBD: Istanbul [IRL]
- TBD Themed Event [Online]
- TBD Themed Event [Online]
Prizes for ETHGlobal events will be decided on by 5 judges from the ApeCoin community. Up to 4 APE holders can join me for the IRL events. Please reach out to me if you’re interested in participating.
Steps to Implement:
- $300k donation sent to ETHGlobal in USD
- $40k in USD sent to ETHGlobal to cover sponsorship fees prior to each hackathon
- $10k in APE sent to ETHGlobal to cover prizes at the conclusion of each hackathon
- $50k for operational costs will be requested as needed from the Foundation as those expenses are incurred. Receipts will be provided to the Foundation for expense reimbursement.
- Events will be coordinated by myself and at least 1 member of the Special Council
Timeline:
First program funded will be Scaling Ethereum in March. Programs will run through EOY.
The Foundation will coordinate with the Ethereum Foundation and ETHGlobal directly to distribute proceeds.
Operational expenses will be reimbursed after they are incurred to ensure the Foundation is covering only relevant expenses.
Each event will require separate coordination for attendees + marketing.
Overall Cost:
The estimated cost of this program is roughly $1,000,000 for 2023.
This includes:
- $300,000 donated to ETHGlobal
- $700,000 to sponsor 11 ApeCoin hackathons + at least 5 public goods initiatives